Rental car “delivery” in Tuscany

Chances are you will have to take delivery personally in either Florence or Siena. The only source of rental cars in the smaller towns may be at a car dealership, but even then they are few and far between. Tuscany is one of those regions where a car is virtually mandatory to get the most out of your trip. You will need a car just to get to Montepulciano anyway.

Thanks for the response. I will be traveling with a large group. Dynamics are difficult to explain but basically, someone else has planned the entire trip and I am joining. We will be in a Tuscan villa for several days between Rome and Florence. The organizer has arranged and paid for transport to/from the big cities but we will just be dropped off at the villa. The people organizing the trip are looking for peace and solitude for drinking wine. I am more of a do-er so was hoping there was a service similar to Enterprise Car rental that we have in the states that will come to the villa so I could go out and explore all the villages in the area.

Looks like your best bet is to get back to Montepulciano and take a bus to Chiusi or Siena. The bus to Siena will take 2 hours. You could combine rental car pickup with a day trip to the city. You'll then have to figure out how to get the rental car back.

You may be better off branching off before you go to Montepulciano if you need to have your own transportation.

Presumably the Villa may be in the middle of nowhere. Does you party plan just to stay there isolated like in the novel “The Decameron” by Giovanni Boccaccio? What are you going to do there, just tell one another 10 dirty tales a day, like in the aforementioned novel?

Anyway, nearby Chiusi has offices with Europcar, Hertz, and Avis. There is bus service from and to Montepulciano. You just have to find out about taxi service from the Villa to Montepulciano.

Yep, middle of nowhere. There is a planned outing for one day, otherwise yeah, just sitting around drinking wine and chatting. For hours. Thanks for the information on busses and transportation options.

Since your group has a private transfer from Rome, check with your sister to see if they can drop you off in Chiusi to pick up the car then drive the 30 minutes to the villa. This way you and your husband have a vehicle to explore Tuscany for your additional 5 days.

I don't know if you've driven in Italy, but this will give you info on their rules of the road. Download their PDF.

https://www.italybeyondtheobvious.com/dont-mess-with-ztl-zones

You also need an IDP available at AAA which is a translation of your drivers license.

Gerri’s idea to have the private bus drop you off in Chiusi is a good one.
Coming from Rome, you have to exit the freeway at Chiusi, to proceed on the regular road to Montepulciano, therefore it wouldn’t be much of a detour for the private bus.

To return the car, since you are all going to Florence, you and your husband could just drive the car all the way to Florence and ditch the rest of the party going on the bus. By then you’ll be sick of them anyhow. Then you’ll all meet at the Florence accommodations (if you are not so fed up with them to ditch them for good). It wouldn’t be much more expensive for you to return the car in Florence. The drive is less than 2 hours, mostly freeway, it won’t cost you more than 20€ between fuel and freeway tolls. No rental drop off charges are applied for returns within Italy.

And... if you're still planning on Lucca, drop the car there.